Sean Reids review?

[Benjamin Marks]

John is spot-on.

For my part, I like Sean's writing -- I think of it as the writing of a movie critic who you get to know, say a Pauline Kael. You may not always agree with the reviewer, but you come to know his or her tastes and it makes a useful touchstone when you are making your own decisions. If someone, for instance, were choosing among the 50s or 28s out there in Leica M-mount, you could at least get a sense of where the price-differential was going by looking at his examples and seeing whether the differences matter. My hat's off to the guy for making a living (or part of a living, anyway) doing something that we all do for free every day (or I do 0.76 times a day according to this website's stats): jawbone about camera gear.

I take the product I like in the package in which it is offered, rather than wait around for some other interface.

 

[ChrisC]

For those with a tendency to bitch about Sean Reid - he used to regularly post here at RFF, and at LUF too, and was always very generous in his help to people with digital Leica questions. He got tired of the flak from bores who regailed at his need to charge readers of his [often] exhaustive Site reviews. To my knowledge Sean no longer contributes to Forums and we are poorer for it, but I don't blame him for no longer being an unwilling target for people with a fraction of his thorough skill, talent, and consideration.

Sean's site is unique. Give him a break!

................. Chris

 

[back alley]

sean was always very good to rff but as posted above became the brunt of some people's harsh opinions.
i would still be a subscriber but i like to read that sort of stuff on my ipad and even when on my computer, i could never figure out how to make the font bigger for easier reading. it was very frustrating.
but the content was very enlightening...

 

[aleksanderpolo]

I am a new subscriber to his site and must say that he is already saving me money.

Reading some other ad supported or "buy the equipment via this link" review sites, I sometimes feel they have a tendency to praise and endorse anything they review. Sean's writing, on the other hand, is very even-handed and supported by test images.

 

[dfoo]

I ask a question about chatter and get a thread primarily full of criticisms of Sean Reid. Pretty unreal... I find his reviews well researched and thoughtful. Yes, I hate the flash stuff but I guess I'm willing to overlook that given that I knew it before hand and pay him.

 

[splitimageview]

🙂

Chatter is like Sean, a non-issue.

 

[semilog]

I am a subscriber to Reid's site and wish to echo the praise of his reviews. They are not perfect, but they are useful and cover aspects of real-world usability that others (specifically and especially including Lloyd Chambers) omit, or cover from a very different perspective. You simply can't get a lot of this content elsewhere. In addition, among the serious equipment reviewers out there, Reid is simply a better photographer than most. So even if I trust, say, DxO's purely technical tests a bit more, Sean's reviews tell me things about usability and the real-world image quality obtained by a very competent working photographer that I'd never find at DxO or DPR.

A year's membership has given me what I need from his site, and I hate the interface, a lot. So I will not re-subscribe any time soon. But to act as though he should not charge for his useful content and very serious evaluations is to epitomize spoiled-internet-child syndrome.

 

[back alley]

..spoiled-internet-child syndrome...

there is such a thing?

 

[PhotoMat]

A year's membership has given me what I need from his site, and I hate the interface, a lot. So I will not re-subscribe any time soon. But to act as though he should not charge for his useful content and very serious evaluations is to epitomize spoiled-internet-child syndrome.

Agreed.

While I am sure that many people are being squeezed financially with the current economic conditions, I have to say that I am getting tired of the incessant carping that I'm seeing in these forums. It is the prerogative of an individual to charge a fee for their services or of a company to set a price for their products without being castigated for doing so. The consumer isn't being forced to buy. If the price is out of line, that fact will be borne out by decreasing consumer response.

 

[Sparrow]

..spoiled-internet-child syndrome...

there is such a thing?

I'll ask my son; but, yes, I suspect there is

 

[dfoo]

Exactly. I like his reviews alot. They are extremely detailed, and from the POV of a working photographer. They are significantly better than any free reviews I've ever read. The only thing I dislike immensely about his site is the stupid flash he uses.

 

[aleksanderpolo]

Another article from Sean on some potential issues that might arise using M lens assuming the adapter is just a physical mount (he hasn't received his adapter yet). He said he will revise the article if the adapter is more than that.

 

[Spyro]

Haha
Sean says the XPro1 review has brought a new wave of subscribers to his website 😀
people dont seem to mind the interface so much after all.

 

[dfoo]

I'm a subscriber in spite of the interface.